As the NBA looks forward to another great night of games on the court Tuesday night — Washington/Indiana and Los Angeles/Oklahoma City — the coaching carousel continues to spin off of it.
After Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown was fired on Monday, there are now seven vacant coaching positions across the league: Cleveland, Detroit, Golden State, New York, Los Angeles, Utah and Minnesota.
For weeks now, it has seemed most likely that Phil Jackson would recruit Steve Kerr to New York, but a deal has not yet been finalized. The door opened for Golden State last week when they fired Mark Jackson, but the early word Tuesday is that they were nearing a deal with former Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy.
That would essentially eliminate the Knicks top competition for Kerr.
But not so fast.
The Detroit Pistons have thrown their hat in the ring for Van Gundy, and according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, are nearing a deal worth approximately 5 years/$35 million, which will include head coach and president of basketball operations:
Detroit and Van Gundy are discussing a deal centered on five years and $35 million for him to become president and coach, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
Golden State officials met with Van Gundy on Monday in Florida and left convinced he was leaning strongly toward the offer of total control in Detroit. Golden State isn’t willing to make an allowance for Van Gundy to have final say on player personnel. The Warriors would make him one of the higher paid coaches in the NBA, but Detroit owner Tom Gores is willing to do “whatever it takes,” one source said, to recruit Van Gundy.
Golden State had been willing to pay Van Gundy in the five-year, $25 million to $30 million range to coach, but officials ultimately don’t believe money is the motivating factor for Van Gundy in his decision. The allure of personnel control and an ability to build his own organizational culture and roster has pulled him toward Detroit.
While Detroit has the appeal of control, Golden State certainly has the roster, which is why Van Gundy hasn’t ruled that option out just yet. Nonetheless, the Warriors continue to pursue both Van Gundy and Kerr, looking to keep the decision in their own hands.
According to Wojnarowski, Golden State’s management group — Joe Lacob included — flew to Oklahoma City on Tuesday to make a final push to Kerr, who will be broadcasting the Clippers/Thunder game on TNT.
So what about the Knicks, who were thought to be the frontrunner for Kerr, and might still be?
Kerr still hasn’t reached agreement with the New York Knicks, with the two sides still unable to come to terms on the length of a coaching contract, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
While it appears like the Warriors would like to guarantee themselves one of the two, Van Gundy is expected to make his decision this week, and is leaning towards the allure of building his own culture from the top down in Detroit. If that is the case, expect things to heat up between Golden State and New York for Kerr, who will be the most attractive option for both organizations.
David Griffin discusses the future of Cleveland
Who is David Griffin, other than a Louis C.K. doppelganger?
He’s the new GM of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
And despite the constant circus that was the 2013-’14 Cavaliers season, Griffin, not quite the sexy name, has done nothing but make everybody feel a little bit better every time he speaks. And if it’s not evident by his words, it is in the affect he’s had on the team since taking over as the interim GM for Chris Grant. After a hopeless 16-33 start, the Cavs finished the season a respectable 17-16 under Griffin, working themselves all the way back to a game within the playoffs during the last week of the season.
This was not a mere coincidence, either.
Griffin instantly started to lay his imprint on the organization, holding a team meeting during his first week to lay out expectations along with regular meetings with Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. Notice how they finished the season strong together?
He also landed a nice addition to the roster in Spencer Hawes at the trade deadline in his first move as GM. Hawes was a great addition to a misfit roster, helping to open up the court for Irving and Waiters and allow the Cavs to play the up-tempo style that Griffin hopes to implement long-term.
Dan Gilbert and the Cavs made it official Tuesday, appointing him the full-time GM. Here’s what the future looks like in Cleveland:
“This is not about anything that anyone has done wrong,” Griffin stated. “This is about moving forward as a collective and being in unison and lockstep as we do so. What was done was in an effort to make sure we make as great strides as possible to reach the level of success that’s necessary.”
“No franchise that’s incredibly well run is all one thing,” reasoned Griff. “We need to find a way to speak to the best of all parts of the offensive background. I know the defensive background that’s dyed in the wool of this franchise. Ownership believes in defense, I believe in offense, and there is the truth in the middle. We’re going to find that.”
“As we talked about at the end of season meeting, those five things haven’t changed,” said Griffin. “Nothing has changed in the last two days to change my philosophy to that. We need to be bigger, we need to be smarter from a basketball IQ standpoint. I’d like us to be a team that’s recognized as being tougher. I’d like us to be a better shooting team, and we need to address our fit. Those things have not changed. If anything, our commitment to those five things has strengthened.”
Griffin’s first task will be to pick his head coach, which will go a long way in shaping the roster.
“I was involved with Steve Kerr in the coaching search when we replaced Mike D’Antoni as head coach,” recalled Griff. “That was a process that was very deep, I would say. It involved meeting with as many as ten candidates and getting serious and thorough with four. That, I think was an experience that I learned a great deal from. In some cases what to do, and in some cases what not to do.
“So I can’t say that we did that flawlessly, but I know we tried. We went at it with the right approach, and I intend to build on that experience.”
The Cavs are likely to target some familiar candidates, including former Suns’ coaches Mike D’Antoni and Alvin Gentry due to their connection with Griffin during his long tenure in the Suns front office. Both George Karl and Lionel Hollins have expressed interest in joining the organization in some capacity, Karl in a team president capacity and Hollins coaching.
Don’t be surprised to hear college names surface as well, such as Kevin Ollie, Fred Hoiberg and Shaka Smart. Dan Gilbert did his best to woo Tom Izzo back in 2010.
Griffin will certainly pick the coach that he thinks can help grow the relationship of Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters on and off the court. He has been adamant since his appointment as interim GM that they are the future of the franchise.
Reports are that Irving was not consulted with the decision to promote Griffin or fire Brown.